Rail-joint



(No Model.)-

M. C. NILES.

RAIL JOINT.

No. 473,638. PatentedApr. 26, 1892.A

l u Il ,Il "l In@ liga.

,MILTON O. NILES, OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS.

RAIL-JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 473,638, dated April 26, 1892.

Application filed July 28| 1891. Serial No. 400,957. (No model.)

by supporting the rail entirely by the top thereof, whereby the rails are not only supported against vertical strain, but also against lateral strain, from the flan ges of the carwheels.

Another object is to have toggles constitute a part of the joint, but to operate the same Without the employment of a base-plate therewith, as has heretofore been necessary.

These objects are attained by the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 'l represents a side elevation of a rail-joint embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a sectional end elevation thereof, showing the position of the parts when the joint is tightened'upon the rails; and Fig. 3, a similar view showing the position of the parts when the joint is loosened.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings.

This invention is of the same class as that disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 407,302, granted to me on July 16, 1889, in which the joint was tightened by the action of a toggle, but differs therefrom in that the base-plate employed in that patent is dispensed with herein and the rail wholly supported from the top, this being an improvement upon theinvention set forth in the aforesaid patent.

Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, A indicates the rails, and B a pair of lever-plates of suitable dimensions extending parallel with the rail and arranged vertically along the side thereof, the main body of the plates extending below the flanges of the rail, above which the plates are provided with anguiar inwardly-extending lips C, the ends of which rest upon the tops of the rail-danges. Between the upper ends of the lever-plates,

preferably between the crotch formedby the conjunction of the horizontal angular lips with the vertical portion of the plates and the under side of the rail-top, extends a pair of brace-plates D, which are designed to constitute the direct support of the rail which is suspended by lits head between these plates, these brace plates each constituting one inember of a toggle, while the angular lips C each constitute another member of a toggle, in effect pivotally connected together and to which the power is applied through the medium of the lever-plates in a manner now to be described. These plates, near their lower edges, are connected, but held a fixed distance apart, by means of shouldered struts E, the reduced ends F of which work in enlarged perforations G in the lever-plate, so as to permit such plates to assume a position oblique thereto in either tightening or loosening the joint. Between these struts and the rail the plates are connected by screw-bolts H, having heads I, bearing against the outer surface of one of the lever-plates, and having nuts J on the opposite screw-threaded ends thereof working against the outer surface of the other leverplate, so that when the nuts are screwed up on the bolt they draw the lever-plates toward each other, the openings in the said plates through which the bolts passbeing of sufficient diameter to permit the plates to assume a position oblique thereto either in tightening or loosening the joints.

The operation of tightening the joints is as follows: Assuming the joint to be loosened, but ythe parts in position for the tightening operation, as illustrated inv Fig. 3, the first result of screwing up the nuts .I is to cause the lever-plates B to move inwardly toward each other, swinging upon the ends of the strut as fulcrums, and thereby lifting the brace-plates G until they bear against the under side of the rail-top, the overhanging lips (l during such operation' riding up the inclined tops of the rail-fianges, which cause the lifting of both the lever-plates and the struts and tightening-bolts carried thereby as the plates as sume a vertical position, which of course causes a more rapid lifting of the brace-plates to their position under the rail-top, for it will be understood that as the struts prevent the inward movement of the lower edges of the lever-plates only the upper edges thereof lcan move inwardly under the action of the tightening-bolts.

In practice it is proposed that the complete tightening operation shall be effected at the instant the lever-plates reach a vertical position; but should this not occur by reason of a difference in the size of the rail to which the joints are applied or by reason of disproportion between the parts, necessitating the forcing of the upper edges of the lever-plates inwardly beyond the vertical, then the ends of the lips C, bearing upon the tops of the raillanges, will serve as the fulcrums ot the said plates and continue the rapid lifting of the brace-plates until they bear against the under side of the rail-top.

It will thus be seen that in my device is comprised a double toggle, of which the braceplates D and the lever-plates B constitute the members of one toggle and the brace-plates D and the angular lips C constitutethe other toggle, both of which operate jointly and simultaneously, and to both ot which the power is applied through the mediumot the leverplates.

It will be observed that the rails do not rest upon the tightening-bolt, but are supported solely upon the brace-plates by their tops, and that the overhanging lips C subserve the double purpose of members of the toggles and of sustaining the joint in position upon the rails, preventing the falling of the brace-plates away from the under sides of the rails, which would occur as a result of the j arring to which the joint is subjected in operation were not these lips or some equivalent devices employed for maintaining the joint in its operative position on the rails.

lips upon said plates bearing upon the railanges, of the struts connecting said plates below the rails,l brace-plates extending between the upper edges of said plates and the under side of the rail-tops, and screw-bolts connecting the lever-plates between the struts and the rails, substantially as described.

3. In a rail-joint, the combination, with the rails, the vertical plates lying paralleltherewith and extending below the rail, and inwardly-extending horizontal lips along the upper edges of said plates resting upon the rail-Hanges, of shouldered struts connecting the lower edges of said plates below the rail, obliquely-disposed brace-plates extending between the upper edge ot said plates and the under side of the rail-tops, and screw-bolts working through said lever-plates between the struts and the rails for drawing said plates toward each other, substantially as described.

MILTON C. NILES.

Witnesses:

R. C. OMoHUNDRo, MANTON MAvERIcK. 

